Achievement

IGERT Trainee Thomas Leary, working with CCNY Profs Maldarelli and Couzis, has developed a new particle-based microarray platform for use in high throughput screening of biomolecules. Microbeads host chemically linked probe biomolecules whose binding interactions are to be screened against a particular target of interest. Microbeads, each displaying a different probe, are arrayed on a surface at fixed locations that are indexed so that the location is known. A microfluidics cell consisting of a transparent channel is prepared. At the bottom of the channel are fabricated an array of well traps designed to capture the microbeads as they flow in an aqueous suspension through the cell. The microfluidic obstacle courses are filled with microbeads containing different probes sequentially. The arraying of multiple beads, each with a separate fluorescent label to identify the bead, has been demonstrated and the platform has been used to screen the selective binding of neutravidan to biotin.